Muay Thai Nights
by Am I REALLY writing fanficion
Summary: Cody Balfour has newly moved to Thailand as the youngest member of an archeology research site. Chad Adkins, Cody's superior, an expat of 15 years, and an avid fan of the native sport of Muay Thai, has dragged Cody to a match. As Cody unexpectedly learns to love the sport, he may also find love in another unexpected place. Gangsta, NicXCody. Will probably have 3 chapters.
1. Chapter 1

The night was late, and it was hot. There were hundreds of people milling around the cramped amphitheater, causing the already sweltering night to hang thick with humidity. The distinct scents of sweat, greasy food stalls, and foreign spices phased in and out of Cody's awareness. The idle chattering of hundreds seemed to swell.

Cody panted in the sultry breeze. "Dr. Chad! Wait up!" Chad Adkins, the senior archaeologist at Cody's research team, was too fast for him to keep up with in the crowd. Cody muttered under his breath. "Damn, he's fast for an overweight 60 year old." Chad was actually only 50.

"If we go at your pace, we're gonna miss Buakaw!" Chad flipped Cody off behind his back not-so-stealthily and stormed back into the crowd. Cody heard a distant "Amateur!" directed at him before Cody lost sight of him completely. Dr. Chad was, of course, referring to Cody being the only under 25 researcher with the rest of the team. He insulted him often.

"I didn't even want to come watch this 'incredible Buakaw'…", Cody mumbled to himself in a mocking tone. Sighing, he wiped the sweat from his brow, re-tucked in his now sweat-stained white shirt, and increased his speed. "Who even cares about Muay Thai?" Dr. Chad, who had been studying Thai culture professionally and in his free time for the past 15 years, cared deeply. But Cody had only been in the country for 6 months, and had somehow managed to evade all invitations to a fight, though they happened nightly. So far, Cody was unimpressed with the general experience, though he still had yet to watch an actual match.

His calves burned from the fast walking. He was unsuccessfully trying to mask his heavy breathing, and the humid air wasn't helping. With a final burst of speed, he surged through the thickest part of the crowd to find a slightly less flooded area. Cody had successfully kept from becoming too entangled in the throng, but Dr. Chad was nowhere to be found.

Cody strained in order to catch sight of the professor. He was almost 6 foot tall, and towered over the Thai people swarming around him. Despite this height advantage, however, Dr. Chad evaded his vision completely.

"Oh, great." Cody cussed to himself. Dr. Chad had dragged him from his mountains of fieldwork, paperwork, and grunt work to attend this event that he didn't even want to go to. Now he was abandoned. Cody was already exhausted from a full day of working at the site, and now this?

* * *

Cody leaned against the grimy wall, and observed his surroundings. The shoddy "stadium" (if it could be called that), was really just a covered area with two permanent walls, a semi permanent one, and a gaping entrance where the fourth wall would be. Despite the openings immense size, it only managed to invite in humid air and throngs of Thais. The seating consisted of folding and red plastic lawn chairs. A handful of vendors loudly sold greasy street food as they milled through the crowd.

"Damn it." He muttered. "Damn it!" The old man was nowhere in sight! Cody, frustrated and sweaty, made up his mind, and decisively turned back to face the crowd. Eyeing the cavernous exit, Cody took a large step. Before he could make much headway, however, he tripped into a previously unobserved person standing near the ring on Cody's right.

Cody scrambled from the floor in a panic, frantically stuttering in his broken Thai.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I guess I wasn't looking where I-" As Cody reached to help up the other person, he found himself staring into the eyes of an extremely, _extremely,_ well chiseled and shirtless man.

Speechless, Cody finished helping the man to his silence stretched for a moment before Cody blushed and looked away.

"S-Sorry." Cody bit his lip in embarrassment. The man was clearly a competitor for one of tonight's matches. He had his hands tightly wrapped up in white gauze, and was wearing the unmistakably flashy shorts all muay thai fighters wore. His bare chest and arms were very well defined, and Cody had a hard time keeping his eyes from sliding back to trace every muscle. While his height, hair, and general appearance seemed to be distinctly thai, his stockiness and lighter skin threw Cody for a loop. Was he half white? The man's black eyebrows were knitted in annoyance.

Coming back to his senses, Cody blushed. "S-sorry, sir."

The man looked away and let out a puff of air. His tough and twisted fingers loosely signaled something Cody couldn't quite decipher, but thought might be translated as a dismissive " _Whatever"._ The man turned to face the other direction, and walked towards an old Thai man (his trainer?). Cody was entranced by the expansive "tribal" tattoo that stretched across the man's taut shoulder blades.

He stood still in the throng. The crowd was beginning to thin, which showed that the match might be beginning soon. Fearing he would miss his chance to escape (did he really want to, now?), he snapped back to attention and jogged towards freedom, when he heard the unmistakably gruff voice of Dr. Chad.

* * *

"Oi, amateur!" Dr. Chad was squeezing between a tangle of fold-out metal chairs about 20 feet off to the side. Cody approached him, and joined his left side.

"It's about time you show your baby face." Chad slapped Cody on the shoulder. Cody lurched forward at the force uncomfortably.

"Professor, I don't even want to be here." Cody said somewhat unconvincingly, as he was still thinking about one of the evening competitors. He rubbed his shoulder. "Why'd you drag me?"

Chad pulled a coke from his bag, took a long draught, then handed it to Cody's tentative hands. "Shut up, Cody. It's starting. And stop calling me professor."

The two finally found seating, about as far from the centered boxing ring as they possibly could. An announcer stepped into the ring, and after a few moments of chatter, the crowd hushed.

While Cody had a rudimentary understanding of the Thai language that was growing more every day, he was lost when the announcer began to speak. Not only did he speak faster than normal, the crowd erupted into cheers that drowned out 50% of his language. Chad was one of the loudest audience members.

After what seemed like an eternity, the first match of the evening began. There were to be three matches of the evening, each made of 5 rounds. The first fight between two women, the following two between men. Cody sank in his seat and settled into his misery, expecting a long and fruitless night.

* * *

The announcer left the match, and two women walked to either corners of the ring - which was actually a square. The "square" had two white corners, and two colored corners - one red, and one blue.

One of the woman, the one nearest to Cody at the red corner of the ring, was a tall, caucasian woman - a "farang" (Thai for foreigner - as were Chad and Cody). The other a petit Thai woman who hardly seemed to be over the age of 17.

Cody observed the farang closely as she spoke with her trainer for a moment, and began to move about in place, throwing a few punches and a kick. The trainer nodded his head, and when the announcer signaled, he lifted the bottom of the ropes up for her to crawl under. The same was done for the Thai woman.

A decorative headband and armband was worn by both women, traditional Thai instruments began playing, and they began a "dance" around the ring. Cody sat, entranced.

"What are they doing?" Cody asked to Chad.

"What? Oh. They're doing the Wai Kru Ram Muay.", Chad said dismissively.

"The- the what?"

"It's a ceremony. Figure it out." Chad snapped. Cody decided he better learn by watching.

* * *

The women's rounds, three minutes each, seemed to pass by too quickly. With each round, Cody became more involved. At first he only held his breath when sharp elbows were thrown, or high kicks landed. By the end of the fifth round, Cody was shouting at everything that happened, good or bad - and with no one to properly cheer for, he cheered for both. Chad was too busy drowning out their half of the audience to take notice of Cody's sudden enthusiasm.

While Cody had difficulty following how points were scored, or what the rules were, he was unsurprised when the young Thai woman was proclaimed the winner in the end. Though the 'farang' had a superior height advantage, and stronger attacks, the Thai women moved so gracefully and swiftly that it was impossible for the 'farang' to keep up.

There was a bit of time between matches, and then the interim match began. This time, it was two Thai men, both young (only 19). They carried through the Wai Kru ceremony effortlessly. These rounds seemed more brutal, and it was harder for Cody to tell who was winning.

Chad's voice echoed through the stadium, chanting for the man in the blue corner. Cody decided to chant for the red cornered competitor. The red corner competitor lost brutally in the fifth round, with a knockout taking place in the final seconds. Cody felt slight disappointment, even though he had never watched the sport before that day in his entire life. How could he have fallen for something so quickly and so completely?

* * *

There was a 30 minute break between that match and the final match. As soon as the two competitors left the ring, the crowds voices swelled again to a deafening level within moments. Chad waved down a vendor who was aggressively trying to sell his food to an uninterested nearby woman, effectively saving her. He purchased two greasy trays of spicy chicken kebabs.

Cody accepted the offering with gratitude, and excitedly began to discuss the two matches. Chad explained rules Cody had not understood from just viewing, and described the basic aspects of Muay Thai for Cody to better understand.

"...You see," Chad began, tearing a large bite of meat off of his kebab, "Muay Thai has really changed over it's time, but nowadays, it's called 'the art of eight limbs'. This is because not only does it use both hands and feet, like kickboxing, but it also uses elbows and knees…"

Cody absorbed all the information like a sponge. He felt like a child, having Chad explain the rules over a meal purchased by him, but he didn't care. Somehow he had managed to be completely converted to the brutal but graceful sport.

The break drew near an end, and Cody became more restless. Would he be able to see the handsome fighter from before again? If Buakaw was as good of a fighter as Chad seemed to be implying, Cody wasn't sure if he wanted to see that. Or maybe he did… After all, he wouldn't mind seeing the man's muscles become more defined through the intensity of the fight…

Cody blushed as his thoughts continued through this avenue a little too long, and hastily took the last bite of his meal. He choked on the spiciness of the meat and his thoughts, and Chad clapped him on the back a little too hard.

"Too much meat for you to swallow?" Chad chuckled. Cody burned with embarrassment.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, two muscular, shorts bearing men entered the stadium from opposite entrances, and the crowd immediately hushed. Approaching the blue corner was Buakaw. He looked mean, and ready to fight. Buakaw peered up at the crowd, and Cody froze. The crowd erupted in cheers, but Cody was frozen, staring into the eyes of this fearsome warrior. A chill went down his spine.

"BUAKAW!" Chad began chanting the champion's name, along with the crowd. Cody, shaking himself of the fear from before, rolled his eyes. Deciding it was all in his head, he allowed himself to scan the young man's body. He was very handsome, but not as handsome as the other guy he had bumped into earlier.

After the crowd had subsided a little bit, the other competitor entered the room. He had a silent and unassuming air. This was the very man Cody had just been thinking about. He blushed at the sudden apparition, and Chad booed.

Mustering his courage, and commanding himself to not betray his feelings, Cody lightly touched Chad's arm. "Profess- uh - I mean, Chad..? Who is that guy?"

"Who the hell cares? It's not Buakaw" Chad said gruffly. Cody pouted.

The two men began to speak with their trainers, and Chad reconsidered Cody's question. "He's some underdog." Chad pointed vaguely at the red corner of the ring.

Cody snapped to attention. "Yeah? What else?" Perhaps he was being too forward, but if Chad had information, he wanted all of it.

Chad scratched his stubbled chin. "Yeah… yeah, I remember hearing his name a few years back. I think his name is...Nicolas Brown."

Cody was quiet. "Nicolas? That's hardly a Thai name."

"He's a halfer." Chad said nonchalantly. "One of the many victims of rampant sex tourism I believe... When I first started living here, he was a young up and coming professional Muay Thai fighter everyone had their eyes on, but suddenly he vanished from the public's eye about four years after I moved. Last I heard, he'd 'been the reigning champion of the illegal underground matches for the past ten years. This is probably his first time back with the professionals. Well I say professional, this is still a pretty amateur venue - otherwise we'd have some damned air conditioning. But Buakaw is good enough to go pro… he just hasn't yet. He always comes out on top." Chad said pridefully, as if Buakaw was his very own flesh and blood. "No way this Nicolas Brown is gonna win, especially without street rules."

Cody sat quietly for a moment, considering. Finally he spoke. "Illegal? For ten years?"

"Yeah. If I had to guess, he's probably 27, 28." Cody sank into his seat, considering his own tender age of 20. 'I wonder if something like that matters to someone like him…' Cody thought to himself.

Before Cody was able to shake himself out of these useless thoughts, Chad interrupted. "He's already nearing the _end_ of his Muay career, and he's just now starting to clean up his act with the _amateur_ league." Chad scoffed and grabbed the untouched Coke back from the ground near Cody's feet. "He's done for. The illegal matches are some real nasty stuff. It's the same kickboxing but with less technique, and more 'house' rules. Rules like that sometimes mean the match doesn't end until someone's on the ground, or until they're out cold. It can get pretty bloody. The underground champs have been known to use wet rope instead of hand wraps, to make it sting. Some of them even put shards of glass there too. This Brown guy looks like a real scrapper."

"Huh…" Cody peered at Nicolas with a more watchful eye. The two of them were beginning the Wai Kru ceremony. Buakaw effortlessly preformed the Wai Kru, but Nicolas seemed a little uncomfortable performing in front of such an audience. A halfer? Underground? Cody noticed some brutal scars coating Nicolas' body he hadn't seen when he bumped into him earlier. "Why would he go to the underground to begin with if he was already succes-"

Chad shoved the nearly-empty and lukewarm Coke back into Cody's hands. "Shut up!"

The match had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Cody Balfour, a young archeologist currently living and studying abroad in Thailand, sat clenching an empty coke bottle tightly between his two hands, barely keeping to the edge of his seat. Just an hour prior, Cody had zero interest in the fighting sport of Muay Thai. After much badgering from his superior, he unenthusiastically relented and attended his first match. But now, his eyes were glued to the ring. Cody never expected what he had previously considered a violent and uncouth sport to be as graceful, fierce, fluid, and raw all at once.

Even when he didn't have a clue as to who he should root for, he was drawn in with every strike, kick, and knee. However, this time he knew exactly who to support. It was the final match of the night, and Cody was wide-eyed, drinking in every movement the short, stocky, and severely handsome Thai Fighter known as Nicolas Brown.

Through the first three rounds, even a novice such as Cody could tell that the "incredible" Buakaw (As Dr. Chad kept referring to him as), and Nicolas, were both getting a feel for the fighting style of the other- occasionally landing devastating blows, but for the most part keeping a heavy sparring pace. Both Cody and even Buakaw, it seemed, were confused at the unexpected gentleness that an ex-street fighter such as Nicolas would have. After 10 years of illegal fights, one would expect Nicolas to be rougher and more brutal in his attacks.

Though Cody had been excited (In more ways than one) to watch Nicolas fight, actually witnessing it was more than he could have ever bargained. Even from the distant seating Cody and Chad had procured, he found himself visually tracing every muscle, his heart beating fast. When Nicolas struck with his fists, Cody watched his shoulder and arm muscles contract, and then relax with lustful awe. When Nicolas elbowed, Cody let his eyes wander down the graceful curve of Nicolas' tricep, to his chest, and then down to his abs (...and maybe a bit lower). And when Nicolas kicked, Oh God, when he kicked, Cody couldn't help but steal glances at the power seeping from Nicolas' abs, sweeping to his toes, and back up again - his sinful eyes resting at the obscenely high hem the bottom of thai shorts allowed him to see.

The night was thick with foreign spices and humidity. It was already a sweltering night, but Cody had found one more reason to break a sweat.

Cody sat, dazed, as the two competitors broke for a minute of rest between the 3rd and 4th round. Though Nicolas and Buakaw had both been putting up a good, albeit steady fight, Buakaw was a touch ahead in terms of points. Cody did not know Nicolas personally (Though he had "accidentally" met him earlier that evening, Cody tried to forget the embarrassment of knocking the thai fighter over), but despite their lack of acquaintance, Cody desperately wanted Nicolas to win. Not only was this because of the irrational crush he was harboring for him, but because of the brief backstory Cody had heard from Dr. Chad before their match had begun. Cody did not know why Nicolas returned to professional, honest fighting after a decade of illegal fighting, but he supposed he probably had a good reason. And Cody wanted him to win, especially if it meant getting an honest life back on track.

"God." Cody muttered under his breath to himself. "When did you get so goddam gay, Balfour." He blushed. He didn't know Nic at all, but here he was, wishing for him to have a good life simply because he developed a crush on him in the span of 90 minutes.

His thoughts were interrupted, as the bell rang for round 4.

* * *

Right away, Cody could tell something had shifted from the previous match to this one. Buakaw instantly chased after Nicolas _("Don't chase after him like an idiot!",_ Chad yelled), pummeling with jabs and hooks, the occasional unexpected knee flying into Nicolas' gut. Nicolas was flung into the ropes of the far corner, seemingly just leaning against them without fighting back. Cody jumped at the impacts aimed at Nicolas, and couldn't hold back gasps of vicarious pain.

"Fight- Fight!" Cody yelled, aimlessly.

Though Buakaw didn't seem to be letting up, suddenly Nicolas switched. It was as wordless, and ubiquitous a switch as any. One minute Nicolas was taking all of Buakaw's blows, and then suddenly he wasn't. Without warning, he seamlessly grabbed Buakaw in an impenetrable clinch. He kneed constantly, first the left, then the right - angling in with his blows, so each one knocked the wind out of Buakaw. Suddenly, the unconquerable Buakaw seemed like a ragdoll, each impact rolling his body back.

After about 10 seconds of unrelenting knees, Nicolas kept his hold on Buakaw's neck with his left hand, and freed his right hand. With his hand released, he elbowed Buakaw square in the temple, 3, 4, 5 times. The referee broke the clinch as Nicolas slowed down for a moment, and Buakaw stumbled back, only for a second, before charging back in like a warrior (" _That's right- don't take that crap from street scum like him!"_ Chad yelled). Only, before Buakaw could land a single punch, Nicolas was kicking him, so fast that it seemed impossible. First the right, then the left, his kicks were so fast that despite Buakaw's sagging body, he was kept upright by the sheer back-and-forth force. Then, to finish it off, Nicolas landed a single devastating cross, hitting Buakaw square in the jaw. The impact made Buakaw stumble backwards, but before either one could strike again, the bell rang.

* * *

"Holy shit." Cody said, equal parts in awe, and in horror.

"No freakin' kidding." Chad said, a foul look on his face. Because of all the clinch work in round 4, Nicolas had not only caught up to Buakaw, but surpassed him in points. Though it was still anyone's game, after such an overwhelming takedown, both Cody and Chad seemed unsure about the next round.

"That sonuvabitch is one scrapper, but he hasn't done a single thing wrong." Chad said with admiration and disgust. "I think Buakaw doesn't know what to do. After all, in these types of fights, both the winner and the loser get paid. He's probably used to more sedentary fights where people don't go 100% like that. It's probably a lot different on the streets."

The bell rang for the final round, and Cody could see fire in Buakaws eyes. This time, they both gently approached each other, staring each other down, until finally Buakaw let out a jab. Without hesitation, they were both flying shots at one another, blocking and striking with fury. Buakaw increased the speed of his fists and Nicolas kept up, the ease slipping until all he could do was keep up with the blocks and throw out a hurried jab every few seconds.

Buakaw turned up the heat, and kneed Nicolas, left then right, pushing Nicolas back towards the ropes again. Buakaw slammed Nicolas with a rear kick, and Cody could see the wind knocked out of him. As Buakaw began punching again, Cody was bouncing up and down in his seat at this point, struggling to keep from shouting out.

Suddenly, with Buakaw's guard down from his string of successes, Nicolas planted a foot jab into Buakaw's chest, sending him flying halfway across the ring (" _What an idiot!"_ Chad cried, Cody couldn't tell if he meant at Buakaw or Nicolas). The two were now too far from one another for either of them to strike, so they both had to head towards one another again- but this time Nicolas had a slight advantage. Without having to collect himself after having the wind knocked out of him from such a foot jab, he met Buakaw in the middle of the ring.

Without stopping to allow Buakaw a single move, Nicolas elbowed him across the forehead, the blow glancing sharply off of Buakaw's brow. Where the elbow landed, a gash formed, and Nicolas elbowed him again, in the same place, only this time with his left elbow. Buakaw haphazardly swung a few punches, but Nicolas brought him in a clinch before Buakaw could react properly. Nicolas kneed him several times, hard, in the gut. He released the clinch before the ref could break them apart, and then elbowed him again and again- hitting Buakaw in the temples, across the forehead, at his cheekbones, and across his chin. At this point, blood was flowing freely from Buakaw's head, but Buakaw continued to struggle, until he fought his way out of Nicolas' deathly elbow range, and began kicking Nicolas fiercely. Nicolas blocked the onslaught of kicks repeatedly, until he jumped with a flying knee, somehow, making contact with the underside of Buakaw's jaw. Buakaw went flying backwards, and he picked himself up, bloodied and scowling. Before he had a chance to retaliate, however, the bell rang- signaling the end of the final round.

* * *

It had been a close match, point wise, but everyone in the audience- even the begrudging Chad- knew who won. The ref walked over to Nicolas and raised his hand into the air. Cody bounced in his seat and clapped enthusiastically, admiring the glistening sweat roll down Nicolas' built body. Cody stood and cheered, and many members of the crowd followed suit.

Despite the stunning and deserved win, Nicolas wasn't smiling. He allowed his arm to be raised in the air for a moment, then jerked his hand back down. He looked around the room, and Cody could have sworn the fighters hard, brown eyes bumped against his own.

Time seemed to slow down as they held eye contact, and the deafening applause was silenced. Cody blushed and smiled at Nicolas, self-consciously putting a hand up to his hair. Nicolas looked away as soon as he first looked, (Was that a slight blush Cody saw? He shook his head. ' _Obviously not.')_ and exited the ring. Cody watched the fighters strong back grow smaller as he shuffled through the crowds, and time caught back up. Cody was swallowed once again in the loud applause of many. He felt small.

After a time the crowd thinned, but Cody couldn't bring himself to leave, not yet. Chad rolled his eyes at Cody's unmoving eyes, and excused himself.

Before leaving Cody completely, Chad left with some parting advice. "Knowing the mountain of paperwork you have waiting for you, I would keep the flirting minimal." Chad flipped Cody off for the second time that evening, as was his habit, and made his way through the sea of empty chairs. Cody blushed. Was he really that transparent? Or was Chad just teasing him? Cody couldn't decide which, but when his eyes wandered to see a now toweled off Thai fighter, sitting and nodding at his trainer at the opposite side of the stadium, Cody decided to not worry about the grouchy old archaeologist's advice.

* * *

Cody's legs were moving before his mind was. Suddenly, Cody was halfway across the

stadium, nearing Nicolas Brown. In the time it had taken Cody to walk that far, he hadn't thought of a single thing to say. This realization hit him, and picking up speed, he made an instinctive u turn - speed walking in the opposite direction.

"Idiot!" Cody swore at himself, his long legs sweeping him further from his goal. "Don't just walk in there without a freaking plan!" Cody punched himself in the forehead, attracting the side-long glances of the milling crowd. "Idiot! Moron!"

In between berating himself, he looked up to see the final vendors of the evening selling a coca-cola to a young Thai boy. An idea spawned in his head. Though it was haphazard and unplanned, he felt like an idea -no matter how half-assed - was better than no idea at all.

He ran up to the vendor. "Two, please." He said in Thai. The vendor rummaged in his ice box, and Cody felt a shiver down his spine when he grasped the dewey glass in his hands. After the purchase, he set his sights once more on Nicolas, this time steeling himself for contact.

"Alright. Alright!" Cody said, quickening his pace. "Be cool Balfour, be cool. Don't make it weird."

Cody looked at the ground as he rehearsed one line in Thai over and over " _That was a great fight. I'm glad I got to watch you. You were amazing."_ He wasn't sure if this was too forward, or awkward to say, but he hoped that his obviously farang nature would bring some endearment to the otherwise unplanned encounter. He looked up, and realized he was a lot closer to Nicolas than he expected to be.

Sitting just 5 feet to Cody's right, was the handsome fighter. Cody observed nervously. Nicolas' trainer was old, a previous Thai fighter much past his prime- probably in his 60s or perhaps even 70s. Despite his age, he still seemed strong and sure of his movements. He spoke with big movements in his arms, and though he was speaking slower than most Thai conversations seemed to go, Cody struggled to understand all of what he was saying.

"-next time I need less of this-" The coach emulated some offensive punches with a nasty look on his face, "and more of this." He started shifting his weight side to side, apparently dodging attacks. His expression was sharp but calm. "Wait for the opponent to slip, and then pounce. Don't go on the offensive. You will both tire too quickly." Nicolas grunted and looked away.

The trainer gave Nicolas a slap up the back of his head, forcing Nicolas to look back at his trainer. "Tonight was sloppy." The trainer said that with a good natured smile on his face.

Nicolas gestured something with one of his hands sharply, and the trainer laughed.

"You're right, you're right as always. I'm proud though. But enough out of me, it looks like you have an admirer waiting to talk to you." The trainer nodded at Cody with a smile.

Cody jerked his head back with embarrassment when he realized the trainer was talking about him. He had been so focused on translating the Thai that he had forgotten his purpose.

"Ah-ah…" Cody tightened his arms, bracing himself. "I love your… your uh" ( _what was the word for fight?)_ "your battle- no, your fight! It was good and, uh, I watched and, uh," Cody stumbled over his words a little too much. The two men were staring at him, and Cody's fluster increased. The trainer was smiling at him good naturedly, prompting him to continue - Nicolas was staring at Cody's mouth, neither showing approval or disapproval. Cody blushed. "And uh, well, I'm glad I got to fight! I mean, watch you fight!"

" _Damn it!"_ Cody added in english under his breath.

Cody forced a smile through the blush that had now spread to the tips of his ears. He remembered the two sodas in his hands and awkwardly presented them to both Nicolas and his trainer.

"For you." He said. _What a freaking moron!'_ Cody thought to himself. ' _So much for trying to leave a good impression on Nicolas, idiot.'_

After a millisecond of silence, Cody haphazardly offered a wai (respectful bow) to the two of them, and started to turn to leave.

"Well now! Thank you very much, young man." The trainer said in heavily accented, but perfectly clear English. "That was some impressive Thai as well. How long have you been in our beautiful country?"

Despite every bone in Cody's body screaming at him to leave, to escape, before he caused more damage, there was a twinkle in the trainer's eye that stopped Cody from retreating.

"Um, six months, Mr…."

"My students call me Master K," Master K looked down at the now standing Nicolas, who had opened the Coke and was taking a long draught. "...though this one calls me 'Old man'", Master K elbowed Nicolas stiffly in the Cody's surprise, Nicolas let out a real, hoarse laughter, sputtering in his drink. He looked to Master K with a grin, wiping off a few splatters of soda from his cheek.

Cody's breath was taken away, for what seemed the 30th time of the evening. Despite how unbelievably gorgeous Nicolas already was at all other times of the day, when the unsuspected smile crossed his lips, Nicolas became at least a hundred times more gorgeous. Nicolas met Cody's eyes again, and Cody wasn't imagining this time, when he saw a blush on his face. The smile was gone, but the corners of his eyes were pointed up with a twinge of happiness.

"Ah, well, uh, My name is Cody Balfour." Cody offered a hand out to shake (Though it was a farang thing to do, he felt more comfortable with the western sensibility of shaking hands upon meeting). "It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, and…" Cody gingerly extended his hand to the now standing fighter.

Nicolas took the extended hand, and smiled warmly, keeping his still wrapped hands on Cody's damp skin for what seemed an eternity. Cody thought he _must_ be dreaming, if such a handsome man would willingly be touching Cody's hand for more than a half a second.

"This is Nicolas Brown." Master K said in Nicolas' place. Nicolas released Cody's hand and gave a short wai. Cody "Wai'd" back, as was the custom. Master K continued, "He's been ruining my life for, pheeew, must be 20 years now?"

Here was when Master K did something strange. Using his right hand that wasn't clutching Cody's gift, he covered the right side of mouth, shielding it from Nicolas' view. "Just between you and me, I'm glad he's been ruining my life. After ignoring me a little too much for a little too long, he gave me a real scare about a year ago. So I'm glad he's back." Master K removed his hand and winked at Cody. "Don't tell him I said so, though, he might think I'm going soft."

Cody was taken aback in utter confusion. "...But Nicolas is right here..?" Nicolas was scowling at Master K, and whipped his hands around with a little more force than was necessary.

"I know you hate when I do that." Master K said with a laugh. "Won't keep me from doing it. It's what you get for calling me old man all the time."

Realization struck Cody like a lightning bolt. _Nicolas was deaf._

Nicolas was deaf. Nicolas _is_ deaf!

Before Cody could think of something to say, Master K raised his coke to the side of his face.

"Thank you very much for the gift. I'm glad you enjoyed the fight, Cody - and I hope to see you again! This old man has got to go to bed, however." Before Master K could leave, Nicolas signed what seemed to be a question to him, tilting his head to the side in inquiry. Master K nodded. "Yeah, same time tomorrow. Good night, Nico."

Master K turned once more to leave, this time winking at Cody subtly. Before Cody could wonder what it was for, Master K subtly jerked his head towards Nicolas and mouthed "Have fun."

Cody's mouth suddenly went dry, his heart beating rapidly. Have fun? Have fun doing what? What did Master K want him to do?

A silence stretched for a moment, and sensing the end of the conversation, Nicolas reached to grab some of his gear. Cody interrupted him before he could get far.

"So!" Cody blurted out, uncomfortably loud ( _It's okay,_ Cody thought to himself, _he can't hear how loud it was anyway…)_ Then Cody grimaced inwardly at the perhaps inappropriate thought. "So… well, I don't know any sign language or anything, but…" Nicolas' searched his gaze over Cody's lips and neck, tearing Cody apart in all directions. A blush grew all over him, places he hadn't thought possible. Cody finished his sentence before he could chicken out. "Would you like to go grab a drink?"

Nicolas lifted the coke Cody had offered not 10 minutes earlier, a satirical expression on his face, which obviously said " _I've already got one"._

Cody berated himself inwardly. ( _You idiot! Why would he get a drink if you already bought him one you… you stupid ho!)_ "I meant a different, um, alcoholic, one?"

Nicolas shrugged with a grin on his face. Looking in a different direction, he gestured nondescriptly to the gaping entrance. Cody knew, even without knowing a lick of sign language, that he meant yes.


End file.
